Method and system for playing signals at two appliances

ABSTRACT

A method for receiving messages in an appliance such as a clock radio modified to retrieve messages from a remote computer, converting the retrieved messages into corresponding audio messages, generating a wake up signal to the user at a selected time in the radio appliance, starting the delivery of the audio messages from a speaker in the radio appliance in response to the generated wake up signal, and receiving audible commands in the radio from the user to control delivery of the messages. In a first embodiment, these method steps are performed in the radio appliance and, in a second embodiment, a remote computer performs all of the messages except delivery of the audio messages and receiving audible commands which occur at the appliance. Where two or more appliances are used, audio commands can cause the delivery of messages to stop in one appliance and resume in another appliance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/887,196 filed Jul. 8, 2004, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/781,047 filed Feb. 8, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No.6,816,060, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/181,354 filed Feb. 8, 2000. Each of which is herein incorporated byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to radio appliances and, moreparticularly, to clock radios

BACKGROUND

The Internet has fostered a host of new technologies including thoseinvolving Internet appliances such as a cell phone adapted tointerconnect with the Internet.

Traditionally, it is common for a person to have a clock radio thatprovides sounds to aid in sleep or in which to wake by. An example ofsuch a clock radio is available from Sharper Image Design as a “CD RadioAlarm Clock with Sound Soother.” Most household bathrooms also have aradio and/or a shower radio such as that also available from SharperImage Design sold as “AM/FM Digital Shower Companion.”

A need exists to adopt the clock radio, bathroom radio and/or showerradio into an Internet appliance for delivery of timely information tothe user in addition to the normal sleep and awake sounds, AM/FMprogramming, and time.

SUMMARY

A method is provided for receiving messages in an appliance such as aclock radio, bathroom radio, or shower radio modified under theteachings of the present invention to retrieve messages from a remotecomputer, converting the retrieved messages into corresponding audiomessages, generating a wake up signal to the user at a selected time inthe radio appliance, starting the delivery of the audio messages from aspeaker in the radio appliance in response to the generated wake upsignal, and receiving audible commands in the radio from the user tocontrol delivery of the messages. In a first embodiment, these methodsteps are performed in primarily in components in the radio applianceand, in a second embodiment, a remote computer performs all of themessages except delivery of the audio messages and receiving audiblecommands which occur at the radio appliance. Where two or moreappliances are used, audio commands can cause the delivery of messagesto stop in one appliance and resume in another appliance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of the system of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an individual appliance of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing operation in one preferred embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the operation of one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing programming the computer hub of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of the individualappliance of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 1. Overview

In FIG. 1, an overview of the present invention is set forth. In abuilding structure 10 such as a house, a condo, or an apartment, thereis typically found a bedroom 20, a bath area 30, and an office area 40.FIG. 1 shows three separate Internet appliances of the present invention50, 60, and 70. Each of the Internet appliances 50, 60, and 70communicate with a remote computer system 80 located elsewhere in thebuilding 10 such as, for example, in the home office 40. Thecommunication occurs at least one of three ways: via telephone (orelectrical) lines 90 or wireless transmissions 100 or a network link110. In the preferred embodiment, the computer system 80 is a standardhome computer system having a CPU 82, a monitor 84 and a keyboard 86.These components 82, 84, and 86 are conventionally interconnected (notshown).

The appliance 50 of the present invention is a clock radio that operatesto provide a wake up alarm to an individual sleeping in bed 22.Appliance 60 is used to provide information to the individual when usingthe bath area 30. Appliance 70 is used by the individual when taking ashower 32.

It is to be expressly understood that in the preferred embodiment thecommunication between each appliance 50, 60, and 70 is with computersystem(s) 80 or any computing device having communication with theInternet over phone lines 90 or other suitable communication links suchas a DSL link, satellite, wireless, etc. Such communication could alsobe with another computer such as the individual's laptop, a hand-heldcomputer, a cell phone or a remote office computer or network.

2. Appliance Block Diagram

In FIG. 2 is set forth the block diagram components of each of thedifferent appliances 50, 60, and 70. These components are generallyreferred to as 200. Each appliance 50, 60, and 70 in a first embodimentincludes a computer 210, a radio 220, a speaker 230, memory 240, adata-to-audio converter 250, an input 260, and a display 270. Eachappliance 50, 60, and 70 may or may not include: a wireless component280, a phone (electrical) interconnection 290, a network card, etc. Eachof the components are discussed next.

In FIG. 2, the wireless communication module 280 can comprise any of anumber of conventional approaches including a module 280 based upon, forexample, Bluetooth technology. Or, conventional RF technology can beused to communicate data signals from the hub 80 to appliances 50, 60and 70. The wireless module 280 is connected over a conventional link282 with computer 210. In an alternate embodiment, rather than using awireless module 280, a phone communication module 290 can be utilized toconvey data signals through the phone outlet 90. Module 290 could alsobe a conventional transmitter and receiver of coded signals overstandard household electrical wiring as found in many burglar alarmsensors. Indeed module 290 can also be any suitable communication devicethat can be hard-wired 90 to the computer hub 80 such as a network, etc.

The radio 220 and the speaker 230 are conventional and exist in manyprior art clock radios. The same is true of display 270 which displaystime, radio dial setting, etc.

A memory 240 is provided wherein the computer 210 conventionally storesand retrieves data and the memory 240 includes other types of memorysuch as memory containing programs, etc. that the computer 210 utilizes.

The data-to-audio converter is any conventionally available module 250that converts data to the spoken voice. In the preferred embodiment, thecomputer 210 delivers data over link 252 to the data-to-audio converter250 to generate sound to speaker 230 such as through connection 234.

Finally, input module 260 is connected to the computer 210 over link 262to provide input from the user of the appliance 50, 60 or 70. A numberof conventionally available software/hardware packages are available foruse in computer 210 which performs the function of the data-to-audiomodule 250.

It is to be expressly understood that a wide variety of conventionalcomponents can be utilized under the method herein and that theinvention is not limited to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

3. Appliance Operation

In operation, a user sleeping in bed 225 is awakened in a conventionalfashion by the clock radio features in the appliance 50. The wake-upsignaling is delivered by the computer 210 to the wireless module 280for transmission to the hub 80 as shown in FIG. 3 in step 300. Thewake-up signaling can occur prior to the wake-up time, during thewake-up time or just after the wake-up time. The computer hub 80 in step310 retrieves the desired messages from a message source such as, forexample, the Internet in a conventional fashion. These messages can begrouped such as e-mail messages, reports on certain stocks, calendarappointments during the day, call-in messages, etc. The retrieveddesired messages can be any suitable message which the user throughinput 86 at the hub 80 pre-programs the computer:2 to receive upon theissuance of the wake up signal 300. The computer:2 can be programmed toretrieve the messages from a message source at a desired time beforewake-up (e.g., two hours before wake-up). The computer 80 can thenorganize the messages into groups and ready the groups for delivery tothe appliance such as in response to the wake-up signal or to an audiblecommand received in the appliance by the user. In a variation, themessages can be retrieved and organized in response to the wake-upsignal from the appliance which is also delivered to the remote computer80. Hence, steps 310 and 320 can be performed in any order. Thesemessages can be automatically delivered back to the computer 210 in theappliance 50 or played back as an audio sound through speaker 230 inwhich case the data is transformed into a comparable audio signal. Or,an activation from the person in the bed 22 can occur such as pushing abutton (not shown) at input 260 or issuing a voice command to microphone292. Indeed, in some embodiments the microphone 292 is incorporated intothe speaker 230. Hence, in stage 330 the messages are delivered to theappliance 50. The messages are played in stage 340 in response to aninput signal such as a spoken command to the microphone 292 such as theword “messages.” Or the activation of a button or any other suitableinput device 260. Or, as mentioned, stage 340 doesn't exist and thedelivered messages in stage 330 are automatically played in stage 350.In stage 350, the messages are played, as mentioned, through the dataaudio module 250 and into the speaker 230. The person lying in bed 22can listen to e-mail messages, hear appointments scheduled for the day,hear critical stock information, or any other suitable special message.

Indeed, stage 340 can be more sophisticated than described above. Forexample, a particular grouping of messages can be played in response toa voice command such as “e-mail”, “stock”, “appointments”, etc. Thenonly a special category of messages are played corresponding to theaudible command. Also in stage 340, additional commands such as “stop”,“continue”, “repeat”, “skip,” etc. can be utilized to control thedelivery of the messages through the speaker 230. As an illustration, anindividual e-mail message can be repeated by saying the command “repeat”or the whole group of e-mail messages can be started over by saying thecommand “repeat e-mail.” Or, the user can audibly command the applianceto “sleep” and the appliance 50 by computer 210 resets and lets the usersleep for a period of time before waking again. In which case, the hubcomputer is signaled to stop delivery of the messages.

It is observed that the present invention by using appliances 50, 60and/or 70 can provide a wide variety of operating conditions. In oneembodiment, only the appliance 50 is used. Or, only the appliance 60 isused. Or, only the appliance 70 is used. In preferred embodiments, atleast two of the three appliances are used, preferably appliance 50 and60. In one embodiment, all three appliances are utilized.

It is to be expressly understood that many variations are possible underthe teachings of the present invention other than those set forth above.A wide variety of commands, groups, and messages can be provided andutilized to specifically address a user's unique desires in order to getready for the upcoming day's events.

4. Appliance Handoff

In FIG. 4, the “handoff” among the appliances 50, 60 and 70 is set forthin one embodiment. In FIG. 4, appliance 50 in time plays the message inresponse to a START command and stops the messages in response to a STOPcommand. The user enters the bath area 30 and states CONTINUE and thecomputer hub 80 detects the audible CONTINUE command coming fromappliance 60. This identifies appliance 60 as the new appliance to whichmessages are to be delivered. This occurs because the microphone 292 inappliance 60 senses the command CONTINUE, delivers it to its computer210 which in turn delivers the command through wireless module 280 tothe computer hub 80. The computer hub 80 then continues to play themessages in appliance 60. In addition, when the user issues a STOPcommand, appliance 60 stops and the computer 80 senses the STOP commandand ceases the play of the messages in appliance 60. When the userenters the shower 32 and the user states PLAY, the appliance 70, throughits microphone 292 and its computer 210, delivers a CONTINUE commandthrough wireless module 280 to computer hub 80 and the messages areresumed for play in the shower. The user, of course, under the teachingsof the present invention, can select which appliance in which order inwhich to communicate with the hub computer 80.

It is to be expressly understood that appliances 50, 60 and 70 can occurthroughout the building 10. Hence, suitable appliances can be found inthe kitchen, garage, etc. In yet another embodiment, many of the controlcomponents in FIG. 2 are performed in computer 82 so that each Internetappliance 50, 60 and 70 are less “smart.”

5. Pre-Programming Hub Computer

In FIG. 5, the preferred programming of the hub 80 occurs with the userlogging into the computer 82 and starting the programming process. Asuitable screen is presented on the monitor 84 and the steps 510, 520,530, 540 can occur in any fashion desired by the user simply by clickingon the suitable icon. In stage 510, the user selects which messages areto be played upon wake-up. In the preferred embodiment where the systemresponds to a voice command, the messages can be grouped so that theyare played in response to a voice command such as “e-mail,” “stock,”“appointments,” etc. For example, in stage 510, the user may selectappointments and stock quotes and, then in stage 520 train the hub 80 torecognize the voice command for appointments and stock. For example, thevoice command for appointments could be simply the word “today” or theword “appointments” or any other suitable vocal command. Assume, forexample, the command chosen is “today” for appointment messages and thecommand “rich” is the audible command for the stock messages. It is wellknown how to train a voice recognition program to recognize vocalcommands especially simple vocal commands that have distinct vocalpatterns. Hence, in this example, the command “today” will be associatedwith the group of appointments for that day and the computer hub 80 canassemble those appointments from any suitable source such as a laptop,palm computer, Internet connection to the remote office computer, etc.With respect to the vocal command “rich” the user must enter stocksymbols so that the hub computer 80 can retrieve the present stockvalues of the stock symbols chosen which are also conventionallyavailable from a number of different sources.

One area critical to the user can be a top priority list grouping wheremessages from different groups are collected together. These aremessages of great importance to the user and are tagged as such. Anexample of such top priority messages could be: “my 10.sup.thanniversary,” “call Peggy tonight at 8:00 p.m.,” etc. And, the commandcould be “Top Priority.”

In another example, the user may only wish to hear e-mail andappointments and, in stage 510, selects those messages. The voicecommands in this example are “appointments” and “e-mail.” In stage 520,the computer is trained to recognize these commands so it is to beunderstood that in some embodiments, the training can occur at theactual appliance 50, 60 and 70 wherein the user speaks into themicrophone 292. Returning to the example, the user may also voice trainthe hub computer 80 in stage 520 to recognize the command “skip” (or anysuitable voice command) so that if an e-mail message is too long, theuser can command “skip” and the next e-mail is read. Additional voicecommands can be used to increase the volume for the voice for themessages by stating “louder” or “softer.” Or, the user can train thecommand “stop” and no more e-mail would be read. A wide variety ofmessages and voice commands can be selected in stage 510 and trained instage 520.

An optional stage 530 is provided wherein the user can select from avariety of voices for reading the messages. For example a soft female'svoice, a robotic sounding voice, a masculine sounding deep voice, etc.All can be selected and changed at any time. In addition, in optionalstage 540, a background sound can also be selected. This backgroundsound can be music (or other sounds) preprogrammed at the hub 80 or itcan be actual voice or sound from the appliance 50, 60, or 70. Indeed,the hub computer 80 can be programmed such as in stage 540 to select anInternet radio station to provide the sound to the appliances 50, 60,and 70 as well as the wake-up alarm (if required), etc. The retrievaland conversion of the messages can occur in the hub 80 so that it isdelivered into the radio speaker directly. This would simplify theconstruction of appliances 50, 60, and 70 and utilize the Internet radioselection and clock in the hub 80. For example, each appliance couldsimply be a speaker/microphone (230, 292) and an I/O driver transceiver(280, 290) with the hub 80 performing all the remaining functions (i.e.,wake-up time, wake-up sound, radio selection, etc.) When the user isdone programming the hub computer 80, the user exits in stage 550. Sucha second embodiment 600 is shown in FIG. 6. The appliance 600 has theI/O transceiver 610 is in wireless 650 communication with the hubcomputer 80. The transceiver 610 is connected to computer 660 and memory670. The computer controls the microphone/speaker 620 throughdigital/audio converter 630 and receives commands over audio/digitalconverter 640.1.

It is to be expressly understood that a wide variety of pre-programmingcan be done by a user under the teachings of the present invention andthat the scope of the invention is not limited by the examples andvariations set forth above.

6. Summary of Method

A method is provided for receiving messages in an appliance such as aclock radio modified under the teachings of the present invention toretrieve messages from a hub computer, converting the retrieved messagesinto corresponding audio messages, generating a wake up signal to theuser at a selected time in the radio appliance, starting the delivery ofthe audio messages from a speaker in the radio appliance in response tothe generated wake up signal, and receiving audible commands in theradio from the user to control delivery of the messages. In a firstembodiment, these method steps are performed in the radio appliance and,in a second embodiment, a remote computer performs all of the messagesexcept delivery of the audio messages and receiving audio commands whichoccur at the appliance. Where two or more appliances are used, audiocommands can cause the delivery of messages to stop in one appliance andresume in another appliance.

In one variation of the method of the present invention, the userselects groups of messages in the hub computer in order to tailor thegrouping of messages to the individual's desired needs. The hub computerthen obtains each group of messages from a message source whether themessage source resides in the hub computer, accessing a remote officecomputer over the Internet or other communication network, accessingmessage sources on the Internet or other communication links. Themessage group can be appointments, stock information, retrievedmessages, top priority messages selected from among the various groups,or any desired grouping of messages and prioritization. The method ofthe present invention in another variation includes the option ofdelivering the background audio sound in each appliance while themessage is being delivered. In another variation, the audible commandscan include stopping, skipping, repeating, or continuing a message or agroup of messages.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the method shiftsdeliveries of the groups of messages or messages based upon audiblecommands by the user from one appliance to another appliance. When afirst appliance is delivering messages to the user, the receipt of anaudible command to stop delivery is sensed and delivered to the hubcomputer which stops delivery. When the user issues a second audiblecommand to the second appliance, the second appliance senses this anddelivers it to the hub computer which identifies the second appliance toresume delivery of the messages.

It is to be expressly understood that under the method of the presentedherein, that the use of certain terminology such as “hub computer” isnot intended to limit the invention to a particular type of computer.The term “hub” could be remote, central, home, etc. In the embodimentshown in FIG. 1, it is typically a home computer located in a physicalhouse in communication proximity to the appliances 50, 60, and 70.

The above disclosure sets forth a number of embodiments of the presentinvention. Those skilled in this art will however appreciate that otherarrangements or embodiments, not precisely set forth, could be practicedunder the teachings of the present invention and that the scope of thisinvention should only be limited by the scope of the following claims.

1. A method, comprising: playing a signal representative of data at afirst appliance, the first appliance located in a first location of ahousehold; pausing the playing of the signal at the first appliance; andresuming the playing of the signal at a second appliance, the secondappliance located in a second location of the household.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein the data comprises audio data.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising: receiving, at the first appliance, a userindication of the audio data.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theplaying is responsive to receiving a start command at the firstappliance, wherein the pausing is responsive to receiving a stop commandat the first appliance, and wherein the resuming is responsive toreceiving a resume command at the second appliance.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, wherein at least one command, from the group consisting of thestart command, the stop command, and the continue command, is an audiblecommand.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting,from the first appliance to the second appliance, an indication of thepoint at which the data was paused.
 7. The method of claim 6, whereinthe indication of the point at which the data was paused is transmittedvia a communication link, and wherein the communication link comprisesat least one from the group consisting of a wireless communication linkand a wired communication link.
 8. A system, comprising: a firstappliance located in a first location of a household, wherein the firstappliance is configured to play a signal representative of data, andwherein the first appliance is further configured to pause the playingof the signal; and a second appliance located in a second location ofthe household and in communication with the first appliance, wherein thesecond appliance is configured to resume the playing of the signal. 9.The system of claim 8, wherein the data comprises audio data.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the first appliance is configured to receivea user indication of the audio data.
 11. The system of claim 8, whereinfirst appliance is configured to play the signal in response toreceiving a start command and to pause the playing of the signal inresponse to receiving a stop command, and wherein the second applianceis configured to resume the playing of the signal in response toreceiving a resume command.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein at leastone of the first appliance and the second appliance is configured toreceive audible commands.
 13. The system of claim 10, furthercomprising: a communication link configured to transmit, from the firstappliance to the second appliance, an indication of the point at whichthe audio data was paused, wherein the communication link comprises atleast one from the group consisting of a wireless communication link anda wired communication link.
 14. A computer readable medium comprisinginstructions executable by a computing device, the instructionscomprising: instructions to play a signal representative of data at afirst appliance, the first appliance located in a first location of ahousehold; instructions to pause the playing of the signal at the firstappliance; and instructions to resume the playing of the signal at asecond appliance, the second appliance located in a second location ofthe household.
 15. The computer readable medium of claim 14, wherein thedata comprises audio data.
 16. The computer readable medium of claim 15,the instructions further comprising: instructions to receive, at thefirst appliance, a user indication of the audio data.
 17. The computerreadable medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions to play compriseinstructions to play the signal in response to receiving a start commandat the first appliance, wherein the instructions to pause compriseinstructions to pause the playing of the signal in response to receivinga stop command at the first appliance, and wherein the instructions toresume comprise instructions to resume the playing of the signal inresponse to receiving a resume command at the second appliance.
 18. Thecomputer readable medium of claim 17, wherein at least one command, fromthe group consisting of the start command, the stop command, and thecontinue command, is an audible command.
 19. The computer readablemedium of claim 14, further comprising: instructions to transmit, fromthe first appliance to the second appliance, an indication of the pointat which the data was paused.
 20. An appliance, comprising: a user inputmechanism configured to receive a continue command; and an outputmechanism configured to play a signal representative of data; whereinthe appliance is configured to receive an indication that a portion ofthe data has been played at a second appliance and that the playing ofthe data has been paused at the second appliance; wherein the applianceis further configured to play a signal via the output mechanism inresponse to receiving a continue command via the user input mechanism,the signal representative of the data from the point which the playingof the data had been paused at the second appliance.
 21. The applianceof claim 20, wherein the data comprises audio data.
 22. The appliance ofclaim 21, wherein the output mechanism is a speaker.
 23. The applianceof claim 20, wherein the user input mechanism comprises a microphone anda voice recognition module.
 23. The appliance of claim 20, wherein theuser input mechanism comprises at least one button.
 24. The appliance ofclaim 21, further comprising: a memory configured to store the data. 25.The appliance of claim 20, further comprising: a communication moduleconfigured to communicate with the second appliance via a communicationlink, wherein the communication link comprises at least one from thegroup consisting of a wireless communication link and a wiredcommunication link.